Hi, I am Drew. I go to AMSA Charter school in Marlborough and I am going into senior year.
Research: Minimal Cells and Synthetic Cells Introduction: Craig Venter is a very influential person in the field of biotechnology. He has accomplished a lot in his career and was even listed at number 14 in the British magazine, New Statesman, for "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". Also, he was on the list for Time magazine's Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. He is a pioneer in the biotechnology and synthetic biology field, and in particular in research into synthetic cells and minimal cells. So what is a synthetic cell? It is a cell that contains a genome that is fully manmade. Along with that what is a minimal cell? A minimal cell is a cell that only contains the genes that are needed to keep it alive in ideal lab conditions.
Image result for craig venter
A picture of Craig Venter The importance of minimal and synthetic cells: So why should anyone even care about minimal and synthetic cells? Well, it is for two main reasons one is it could eventually lead to being able to fully customize cells. We know have the ability to print out full genomes and insert them into an empty cell and “make” life. This could open up limitless opportunities in the future once the technology is improved more. The other reason is making minimal cells can teach us about the many genes that are essential for life but we don’t know what they do. If we could figure that out it would help making customizable synthetic cells because the genes for life could be put together with other genes that are desired to make a completely new species in the lab. These technologies can expand the imagination so much thinking of the endless possibilities that could come from the future of this technology. There is a lot of gene editing technologies, for example, CRISPR and these allow for tinkering in a cell and small changes. This is very helpful but the possibilities and research that come from minimal and synthetic cells makes it something that is definitely worth exploring
Image result for semi-synthetic minimal cell
First synthetic cell: The first fully synthetic cell was made in 2010 by Daniel Gibson at the J. Craig Venter Institute. He achieved this by first getting an extremely accurate genome sequenced for Mycoplasma mycoides they used this organism because it has a very small genome but still divides quickly. They then got the DNA sequenced in small chunks each “cassette” was around 1000 base pairs. This was then put into a yeast cell. The yeast is able to combine the separate strands together into a synthesized Mycoplasma mycoides genome. Then they took it out of the yeast and inserted it into Mycoplasma capricolum. The cell then took the characteristics of Mycoplasma mycoides and was able to grow and divide. They were able to create a living thing from a computer made genome. It was a huge step in synthetic biology as a whole. Although they didn’t create something new, it proved that a fully computer made genome was viable in an actual cell and could make a living thing.
Image result for computer made genome
The minimalism of Mycoplasma mycoides: Venter and his team's goal were to figure out what is essential and what isn’t for cells. Their goal was to figure out what was essential to life and to learn what the numerous amount of unknown essential genes do. They took out genes that produced nutrients that could be given to them as chemicals in a lab. They chemically synthesized DNA with the genes cut out this was unsuccessful so they then went for a method of design build and test. With each test, they learned more about what was essential and what they could get rid of. They ran into a few problems including some genes being quasi-essential which means that they are not essential but they help growth. Also sometimes multiple genes make the same essential protein so you can get rid of one or another but not both, and genes are so connected that getting rid of one can affect many things in the cell. They were able to significantly cut down the genome to 473 genes this is the smallest of any known independent organism Conclusion: They possibilities for this are unimaginable the only limit we are facing is the technologies but they are improving every day. Although it may be a long way out we can start to think about making fully human designed organisms that can be new species. In the future, you may be able to go on your computer design a cell with the desired characteristics and be able to print out the genome and put it into a cell. With these technologies also comes ethical issues. For example, should humans be allowed to make their own species, and if so what can they make them do. Also how much can we alter the genome of existing organisms. These are important questions that need to be answered so we can fully explore this new field in the safest way possible.
Research: Minimal Cells and Synthetic Cells
Introduction:
Craig Venter is a very influential person in the field of biotechnology. He has accomplished a lot in his career and was even listed at number 14 in the British magazine, New Statesman, for "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010". Also, he was on the list for Time magazine's Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. He is a pioneer in the biotechnology and synthetic biology field, and in particular in research into synthetic cells and minimal cells. So what is a synthetic cell? It is a cell that contains a genome that is fully manmade. Along with that what is a minimal cell? A minimal cell is a cell that only contains the genes that are needed to keep it alive in ideal lab conditions.
A picture of Craig Venter
The importance of minimal and synthetic cells:
So why should anyone even care about minimal and synthetic cells? Well, it is for two main reasons one is it could eventually lead to being able to fully customize cells. We know have the ability to print out full genomes and insert them into an empty cell and “make” life. This could open up limitless opportunities in the future once the technology is improved more. The other reason is making minimal cells can teach us about the many genes that are essential for life but we don’t know what they do. If we could figure that out it would help making customizable synthetic cells because the genes for life could be put together with other genes that are desired to make a completely new species in the lab. These technologies can expand the imagination so much thinking of the endless possibilities that could come from the future of this technology. There is a lot of gene editing technologies, for example, CRISPR and these allow for tinkering in a cell and small changes. This is very helpful but the possibilities and research that come from minimal and synthetic cells makes it something that is definitely worth exploring
First synthetic cell:
The first fully synthetic cell was made in 2010 by Daniel Gibson at the J. Craig Venter Institute. He achieved this by first getting an extremely accurate genome sequenced for Mycoplasma mycoides they used this organism because it has a very small genome but still divides quickly. They then got the DNA sequenced in small chunks each “cassette” was around 1000 base pairs. This was then put into a yeast cell. The yeast is able to combine the separate strands together into a synthesized Mycoplasma mycoides genome. Then they took it out of the yeast and inserted it into Mycoplasma capricolum. The cell then took the characteristics of Mycoplasma mycoides and was able to grow and divide. They were able to create a living thing from a computer made genome. It was a huge step in synthetic biology as a whole. Although they didn’t create something new, it proved that a fully computer made genome was viable in an actual cell and could make a living thing.
The minimalism of Mycoplasma mycoides:
Venter and his team's goal were to figure out what is essential and what isn’t for cells. Their goal was to figure out what was essential to life and to learn what the numerous amount of unknown essential genes do. They took out genes that produced nutrients that could be given to them as chemicals in a lab. They chemically synthesized DNA with the genes cut out this was unsuccessful so they then went for a method of design build and test. With each test, they learned more about what was essential and what they could get rid of. They ran into a few problems including some genes being quasi-essential which means that they are not essential but they help growth. Also sometimes multiple genes make the same essential protein so you can get rid of one or another but not both, and genes are so connected that getting rid of one can affect many things in the cell. They were able to significantly cut down the genome to 473 genes this is the smallest of any known independent organism
Conclusion:
They possibilities for this are unimaginable the only limit we are facing is the technologies but they are improving every day. Although it may be a long way out we can start to think about making fully human designed organisms that can be new species. In the future, you may be able to go on your computer design a cell with the desired characteristics and be able to print out the genome and put it into a cell. With these technologies also comes ethical issues. For example, should humans be allowed to make their own species, and if so what can they make them do. Also how much can we alter the genome of existing organisms. These are important questions that need to be answered so we can fully explore this new field in the safest way possible.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XV-lexmwxa1N-tRxMyZPbzKNz4wQwigXmgSl5wbvNVc/edit?usp=sharing
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3518485/
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6280/aad6253
http://www.nature.com/news/minimal-cell-raises-stakes-in-race-to-harness-synthetic-life-1.19633#/b2
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100526/full/465406a.html
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18942-immaculate-creation-birth-of-the-first-synthetic-cell/